If there’s one thing every parent knows, it’s that when it comes to kids, summer and stains go hand in hand. From the inevitable grass and mud stains on pants to sticky smudges from ice cream or freeze pops, summer fun means summer mess with active kids in the house! Luckily, I have a secret weapon for ensuring even the dirtiest clothes come out of the washer looking like new: Tide Ultra Stain Release!

This detergent is my do-it-all superhero when dealing with really tough stains and the secret is all in the cap. A clever design lets me use the top of the cap to rub detergent deep into the fibres of stained clothing. It works for even the toughest, most set-in stains and that means that I can keep my boys’ clothes looking their best until the next growth spurt.

Skin sensitivity is something that I’ve known quite a bit about ever since I was a child. My younger sister suffered from severe eczema when she was little and used to wake up screaming in the night because she was itching so badly. When we grew up and had our own children, my boys dealt with some mild irritations and allergies of their own and my oldest niece suffered from the same severe eczema as my sister once had.

Needless to say, I’ve done my fair share of research into ways to minimize skin irritation. And if your family ever has negative skin reactions, Canadian dermatologist Dr. Sandy Skotnicki has some great tips to help avoid allergic reactions and other skin sensitivity issues!

Spring cleaning is in full swing for many right now and this spring, the new Tide Plus collection is here to help me discover the #Plusabilities of all its different detergents and get through the cleaning a little easier! With six varieties of Tide Plus laundry detergent for all my various household needs, there’s no job I can’t tackle when doing my cleaning! Check out this handy Tide Plusabilities infographic to see how Tide Plus detergents can help you power through your spring chores!

The new Tide Plus collection is available in adorable mini bottles good for washing five loads of laundry so that busy families can test one or two without buying a large bottle. These “cuties” are a perfect way to find your perfect Tide! The Tide Plus collection includes Tide Plus A Touch of Downy for added fabric softening, Tide Plus Febreze Sport to help eliminate tough odours, Tide Plus Coldwater Clean to help save energy and the environment, Tide Plus Bleach Alternative for brighter whites, Tide Plus Febreze Freshness for long-lasting great scent and Tide Plus Ultra Stain Release for deep-down removal of the toughest stains. [Read more…]

Having two boys in the house that love to be on the go means that dirty laundry is something I have to deal with all the time. And while I wish I could say that it was just my boys’ clothing that ended up filthy, the truth is my own clothes often get just as dirty as the outfits Zackary and Benjamin wear. Part of that is due to cleaning up the mess my boys make but part of it is just my own occasional clumsiness. If I manage to make it through the week without spilling coffee on myself at some point, I’m generally pretty proud!

Fortunately, I have a gorgeous new Maytag Maxima XL Steam Laundry Pair to help me deal with the mountain of laundry the boys and I create each week. But since this is my first experience with a high efficiency washer, I was at a bit of a loss when choosing a detergent for the machine. Initially, I used a laundry detergent for baby clothes since it had the low sudsing formula I needed for the machine. But it just didn’t have the cleaning power to get out tough stains and that’s an essential for me. So when I got the chance to test out new Purex plus Oxi liquid laundry detergent, I hoped it would be the detergent I had been searching for.